Book and Website Publisher at PJAWeb

Janek is a talented professional photographer and designer who has had more than 40 printed books published, and has contributed to many more. Born in the United Kingdom, he has lived in South Africa for most of his life, and has a wealth of experience that spans a wide range of different media types and styles. He quit a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry to follow his heart, working first for daily newspapers (including the world-renowned Rand Daily Mail), and then on magazines, photographing everything from wildlife to near-naked centre-spread girls for the then hugely popular Scope magazine, and gorgeous moms and babies for the country’s leading family magazine, Living and Loving. Self employed since the 1980s, he continued to freelance for magazines, while building up a client base for photographs, brochures and other printed products. He also launched his own advertising-powered publication, Cape Home Care, which had a circulation of 100,000 copies and was distributed free in the Cape Town metropolitan area. His first book commission was Struik Publisher’s The Complete Book of Home Planning in South Africa, published in 1986, which was followed by Cottage Furniture in South Africa the following year. His passion for DIY and renovation established him in the field of home maintenance and improvements, and he went on to illustrate dozens of home orientated books written by his wife and business partner, author Penny Swift (as well as one about horses). Together they also owner-built three houses, and renovated several more, and both confer that their most successful book to date is the recently updated Owner Building in South Africa. Into the 21st century, Janek’s focus has changed, and today he not only illustrates books and designs client media, but also builds and hosts websites, including several of his own. In addition to printed books, he is committed to ensuring that all the books he publishes are available in the increasingly popular formats, including Kindle and ePUB. Over the past few years he has been exploring the AI Age and how it has integrated into daily work life. He is comfortable with using AI but only as an aid and not as the primary creation tool.